The ancient Romans bet on chariot races, games of dice and ran a lottery. Chariot drivers wore the colors of the stables they represented. Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, sponsored a public lottery to pay for repairs to the city. Greek and Roman women were not known to gamble. Some historians surmise that women entered into gambling with the invention of cards.

During the 17th century gambling was popular in Europe and French, and English women were enthusiastic participants. Dice and card games could be found at any time of the night or day and people from every walk of life and social station were caught up in the frenzy.

In America, squaws in the Indian tribes participated in gambling as well as the braves. They could only play when their husbands were not watching. In the Wild West, notable women involved in gambling were dealers, gamblers or prostitutes and had colorful names such as Poker Alice, Madame Moustache, Calamity Jane, and Buckskin Alice.

In the 1800’s roulette gained in popularity. The wheels were found in very few locations throughout Europe. Countess Kisseleff gambled at roulette for hours on end and is said to have lost quite a fortune on several occasions. Today in Homburg, Germany, the street leading to the casino is named after her.

In Britain in the last part of the 1800’s, bookmakers actively sought women gamblers to place bets. They would wait until their husbands left home and would go door to door to solicit bets from women on horse races. Street betting and betting shops where people could place their wagers on the races were prevalent. As a result of this aggressive solicitation, many women developed problems; pawning items and selling their children’s shoes and household possessions to get money for gambling.

In the early days in Las Vegas in the 1950’s and 1960’s women were used as decoy players. These “shills” were available to the substantial male players. Women had to grant sexual favors to obtain jobs as dealers. Gaming machines were developed to keep the wives and girlfriends of male gamblers occupied while the men played the other games. Women began to get addicted to the slot machines and some lost tremendous sums of money while playing. By 1972, US Gamblers Anonymous noted a ratio of 50 women to 1 man attending meetings.

Gambling for women has progressed to include games of chance such as lotteries and bingo. Championship poker is becoming extremely popular. Barbara Enright, the only woman to make the final table at the World Series of Poker, has launched a magazine devoted to the subject, Woman Poker Player. Women have arrived in the world of gambling. With the highs of winning come the lows of addiction and financial ruin.